As a commander in the war and as doge of Venice after 1523, Andrea Gritti was the foremost proponent of this strategy, earning for himself the appellation of "Fabius Maximus," the Roman general who opposed Hannibal by delay and defense in the Second Punic War.

A dynamic, authoritarian individual, Gritti exercised the prestige and power of his office to the full.

In 1530, the humanist Pierro Bembo was appointed official historian of Venice with the support of Gritti.

That policy, so at odds with the forcefulness and pugnacity depicted in Titian's painting, earned Gritti the appellation of "Fabius Maximus" among his fellow patricians, after the Roman general who was known as "the Delayer" (Cunctator) for his controversial tactic of avoiding battle and relying on defense in opposing Hannibal.

Andrea Gritti was the leading Venetian figure to draw significant lessons from the Cambrai conflict and, as doge, to apply them to the Republic's role in international politics.

Moreover, the same examination also shows that Gritti looked to classical examples as guides to action, both in his advocacy of Fabi an tactics in Venice's struggle for survival and in his promotion of Venice as a "New Rome," a polity possessing a political wisdom which could serve as a lesson for all Europe.

In Paolo Giovio's Elogia, a collection of portraits of famous men, Gritti is praised for his commanding presence, exceptional refinement, and civic virtue.

In an oration to the doge, a representative of Vicenza stated that before the war, Gritti "in a brief time became more expert than everyone else" in military affairs; thus when "almost all Europe conspired at Cambrai to destroy this holy Republic, he was a modern Scipio, offering his body to his beloved country.

Gritti addressed all the condottieri in the sacristy of Santa Giustina, exhorting the commanders to defend the Republic and achieve "la liberation de Italia"; he then had them take a solemn oath of fealty to Venice upon a missal left open on the altar.

25] When captain-general Niccolo Orsini, Count of Pitigliano, fell ill, the Collegio told Gritti that he could take charge of the army, thereby ranking him above professional soldiers.

Weber identifies Giovanni Bellini's portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan in London and Titian's portrait of Doge Andrea Gritti in Washington, arguably the two most-famous images of the Venetian doge, as key to the establishment of this new type of representation.

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